PLEKHANOV: “There are also a few points I would like to point out”

Head coach of “Kharkov Falcons” Valery Plekhanov He summarized the team’s 2025 results and talked about the preparations for the continuation of the season:

“Summing up the results of the calendar year, I want to congratulate all our fans on the upcoming New Year and Merry Christmas, wish our favorite team peace and good victories! “Kharkov Falcons” are the first players of this Super League season, so second place at the moment is a good result.

There are a few points we would like to emphasize separately. First of all, seven players from last season’s active squad won the Premier League together, but five of them never played in the Super League. Therefore, the experience they gained in the first half of this season is almost priceless. Secondly, Kharkiv Falcons are one of the two champion teams that did not play a single match at home. It’s very difficult when you’re not playing for your fans, you’re training in one gym, and you’re playing in a different gym every time, even on home tours. In these conditions, 4 defeats in 13 matches is a good result.

One of the most negative moments of this year was not being able to participate in the last four of the Ukrainian Cup. Unfortunately, we were a little unlucky in the draw. After an emotionally difficult and physically exhausting match with Krivbass, we did not have enough strength for the next match against Kiev-Basket in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, our performances in the cup are over, but now we will be able to focus all our efforts on the championship.

Our main problem now is injuries. We have five injured players, three of whom have serious injuries that require a long recovery period. We’re about to get off to a very tough start to the new calendar season because the Falcons will be playing basketball six weekends in a row, which means six road trips with no rest time. If we could count on all twelve players in the squad at the beginning of the season, there will no longer be such a rotation. Therefore, all the responsibility and burden will fall on the players in the rankings. I hope they get over their injuries in the new year, recover from their injuries as soon as possible, return to work and help their beloved club properly represent Kharkiv in the Super League.

Despite the holidays, we have training scheduled almost seven days a week. “I really hope that by January 10 we will be a combat-ready team that can solve serious problems.”